A woman chooses abortion because she is not ready to accept the consequences of her pregnancy, whether it involves single motherhood, the exposure of her sexual activity, or anger of boyfriend or parents. But abortion also has serious and long-lasting consequences. Much of the following material was taken from articles by David Reardon, of the Elliot Institute. Those articles and others are available at www.afterabortion.org.

Physical risks:

A major study found that 48% of women who aborted their first pregnancies experienced abortion-related complications in later pregnancies. Women in that group experienced 2.3 miscarriages for every one live birth. (2)

Among teenagers who aborted their first pregnancy, 66% experienced miscarriage or premature birth of their second child. (3)

The risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion, and rises even further with two or more abortions.(6)

Psychological risks:

A 5 year retrospective study in two Canadian provinces found significantly greater use of medical and psychiatric services among aborted women. 25% of aborted women made visits to psychiatrists as compared to 3% of the control group. (13)

Alcohol abuse: Abortion is significantly linked with a two fold increased risk of alcohol abuse among women. (14) Abortion followed by alcohol abuse is linked to violent behavior, divorce or separation, auto accidents, and job loss. (15)

Child neglect or abuse: Abortion is linked with increased depression, violent behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, replacement pregnancies, and reduced maternal bonding with children born subsequently. These factors are closely associated with child abuse and would appear to confirm individual clinical assessments linking post-abortion trauma with subsequent child abuse. (16)

Healing ministries are available to help women find forgiveness and healing from God. See our information sheet "
Abortion Recovery" for more information or our
Immediate Help page for information on local resources.